Lacing for shoes, &amp;c.



R. OFFICER.

LAGING FOR SHOES, &c.

APPLICATION FILED AP11.26.1910.

1,150,616. Patented Aug. 17, 1915.

ROBERT OFFICER, OF NORTH GRAFTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LACING FOR SHOES, 85c.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 17, 1915.

Application filed April 26, 1910. Serial No. 557,661.

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, ROBERT Orrronn, a citizen of the United States, and resident of North Grafton, in the county of WVorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lacings for Shoes, &c., of which the following is a specification.

This invention consists in an improved tip for lacing strings, such as shoe lacings.

Metal tips, composed of either wire or sheet metal, have been commonly used in lacings, but they are undesirable for the reasons that they are liable to scratch fur-.

niture and other objects with which they come in contact, they corrode and deteriorate, and they are undesirable from an artistic standpoint. Attempts have also been made to produce lacing tips by incasing the ends of the lacings in rubber, by saturating the lacing with cement and compressing it, and by winding the lacing with thread and then sewing through the winding to prevent it from unraveling. A thread wound lacing tip is highly desirable for the reason that it is pleasing in appearance and will not scratch or mar objects with which it comes in contact, but such tips, as heretofore suggested, have been impracticable for the reason that no successful means has been used to prevent raveling of the ends of the binding thread or cord. The present invention overcomes all of these difliculties and produces a tip for a lacing cord which is durable, pleasing in appearance, and which will not scratch objects with which it may come in contact.

The invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a side View of the end of a lacing provided with my improved tip; and Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the manner in w rich the tip is formed.

Referring to the drawing, A indicates the lacing and B the tip. The tip is formed by winding the end of the lacing with a cord or thread, the adjacent coils of which are close together, and the winding being so tight as to make the structure sufliciently rigid for lacing purposes. The preferred method of winding is illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 2, referring to which Z) indicates one end of the thread or cord which is laid lengthwise of the lacing before the winding is begun. The thread or cord is then wound in a series of spirals a, beginning at the inner end of the tip and extending out to its free end. These coils are wound tightly about the lacing and about the portion I). When a sutiicient portion of the lacing has been wound the two ends of the thread or cord are tied together, as at b and the ends cut off. A lacing tip is thus produced which has no free ends and which cannot ravel. I prefer however to dip the extreme end of the lacing tip in a suitable cementitious substance such as sealing wax, care being taken not to use more wax for this purpose than is necessary to fill the interstices of the coils of thread at the extreme end of the tip. The wax on the end of the tip hides the knot and prevents it from untying, and it also precludes the possibility of the tip raveling. A small amount of wax, such as described, can be used without spoiling the appearance of the tip.

In Fi g. 1 the waxed end of the tip is indicated by reference character 6 The tips such as described above are quite as durable asthe metal tips, or in any event will outlast the lacings, and they are free from the objections to metal tips and are of much more pleasing appearance.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

A lacing having a tip comprising a cord wound tightly and closely around a portion of the lacing, one end portion of the cord extending parallel to the lacing and through the coils, and the two ends of the cord being secured together at the free end of the tip, the free end of the tip including the securedtogether ends of the cord being coated with suitable cementitious substance, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' ROBERT OFFICER.

Witnesses JOHN ALEXANDER, M. E. TENNEY.

Copies ofthis patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

